SIHH 2019: MB&F Medusa

Hands-down, one of my favourite pieces from Maximilian Büsser and his pals thus far is the inimitable Aquapod, a rather tongue-in-cheek take on the dive watch with a side profile reminiscent of a jellyfish. Full disclosure, I have an unnatural fascination with jellyfish, but I genuinely enjoy the light-heartedness, whimsy and imagination MB&F seems to come up with by the boatload.

SIHH 2019 is upon us once again, seeing MB&F working with L’Epée 1839 for the 10th time this year. Again, anytime the two collaborate, I applaud, as anything out of the ordinary to express time and downright unnecessary merely breathes life into this industry as a whole. Pray tell, what do we have this year? Did the watch gods read my mind? We have a jellyfish clock, people!

The mighty Medusa is a dual-configuration clock showing time through a fixed indicator against two rotating rings; one for hours and the other for minutes. A sprinkling of Superluminova lights up this bad boy, bringing us deeper into the deep, dark abyss. The clock beats at 18,000vph and its suspended movement can be seen pulsating away, almost like the heartbeat of a real-life jellyfish.

Enveloping the piece is a striking hand-blown Murano glass dome to mimic the rippling body of this sea critter, available in vibrant pink, green and blue options. Finding a glassblower capable of such a project was no easy feat, with Epée having approached upwards of 40 companies before they found their chosen one.

The designer of the Medusa is Fabrice Gonet, who first pitched the idea in 2016 to MB&F. “I’ve known Fabrice for some years but we never had the chance to work together before. When he wanted to show me one of his designs, I accepted, even though I don’t normally say yes to this kind of thing — also because I saw that his design was of a clock and not a watch. The vision was so clear that, in the end, the final clock turned out to be very close to the initial sketch,” recalls Büsser.

Part horological machine, part art piece, the Medusa is available in only 50 pieces per colour variation and can accompany you either on your desk or mounted on the ceiling.